


WoF x CSRverse. Arc 2

by SharkJack



Series: WoF X CSRverse AU [3]
Category: Bx: Execute (OFF Fangame), UNLOAD (OFF Fangame), Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Attempted Murder, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Fainting, More tags later, Swearing, Violence, firescales, for now, kidnapping technically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29723508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkJack/pseuds/SharkJack
Summary: Despite this being a sequel, the plot starts here (But please read the first one as a lot of things are established. If it wasn't clear before; I don't know how to plan plots ahead of time!)
Series: WoF X CSRverse AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052042





	1. Wof au, arc 2 (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fred's PoV

The last thing Fred wanted to do was fly  _ even. More. _ But he wasn’t going to lose sight of these new shiny dragons! Traveling with them was a bit of a bore, sure, but it’s not every day that  _ three new tribes _ show up out of nowhere!

Apparently, a few of them were hoping that more Silkwings would be following behind. There’s a hidden group called  _ The Chrysalis _ , fighting against the Hivewings to end their own slavery and free the Flamesilks.

Cricket assured Fred and Flo that the Silkwings were still being paid, but Io had to interject by saying “Not nearly as much as a Hivewing would doing the same job with worse quality! Not to mention that after we get our wings we had to  _ become someone else’s Silk _ who we’re forced to live with and work for.”

Flo flies closer to Io. “Hey, wait, didn’t you say  _ you _ were going to give the extra map to The Chrysalis? How did you catch up so fast?”

“I didn’t  _ exactly _ get caught up, I was with another Silk, Cinnabar. I remembered that Luna was waiting for us on your continent and she needs someone she recognizes, so why not her boyfriend’s sister? Especially since Swordtail and her brother, Blue…” She stares ahead, then glides down to fly by Hazel around the front.

Flo heads back to Fred and mutters “Poor dragons…”

Fred scoffs. “Sort of rude, answering a bit of your question but not entirely!”

Fred gets whacked by Flo’s tail, throwing them both off balance for a second. Flo glares at Fred. What? He’s not wrong! Maybe Flo understands Io because he’s  _ just as rude!  _ He’s flying  _ away! AGAIN! _

Although, maybe without Flo around…

Fred flies closer to the middle of the flock, where the dragonets and eggs are being protected. If he can isolate one of the single egg-less caretakers, maybe he can get a midday snack?

There’s one! A pale dragonet, maybe 6 years old. There’s no way any of the offspring is her own, she’s too young! But just old enough to be responsible enough to be a caretaker instead of being protected like the younger ones. Fred starts swooping closer, being ignored thanks to the chaos of screaming hatchlings.

Although, one  _ does _ notice him.

Green, gold, and black start swarming his vision. Sundew decided to  _ attack him while carrying Bumblebee! _ How careless, bringing a hatchling into your fight!

“Back off! Your brothers told me everything,  _ Freddie. _ I see you eyeing  _ MY _ girlfriend!”

“My mistake for thinking someone wouldn’t actually miss her! Kehehe!”

Sundew growls and Bumblebee growls with her. She exclaims “Bad Snudoo eepow! Bad!” In her little hatchling language. Does Snudoo mean Sundew?

The two fly to the girlfriend, Fred can overhear that her name is Willow. They chat for a bit and Willow looks over at Fred, clearly worried. Fred grins cheerfully back. Sundew folds down Bumblebee’s ears and shouts “PISS OFF!” while Willow gasps and scolds her for swearing.

They were starting to get boring, maybe their queen is more fun?

Before Fred can reach Hazel, some kind of buzzing gets louder and louder. Cricket’s beside him now, somehow carrying herself with fast beating wings like a bug’s. Every few seconds, they seem to get tired and carry her as she glides, even though they’re pretty small.

“Sooo-” She starts. Fred and Flo both had to deal with her questions whenever she spotted them in the crowd. For a while, Cricket even got Huaso to answer her questions but he quickly escaped into the lake when she coughed once.

“What is it like being a hybrid of- what was it? Dirt and Sand?”

“Mud.”

“Mud! Sorry, sorry! Does that combo happen often? Are you considered a subspecies? Oh! Or maybe you’re like the Hivewings, and eventually, you’ll be your  _ own _ tribe if you find other hybrids, or something like that!”

_ That _ got his attention.

“Like the Hivewings?”

“Yeah! Uhm, Lady Scarab told me about Hivewing history, back when I thought I was immune to Queen Wasp’s control because  _ I _ was half Silk, but I’m not, I’m a full Hivewing. She said that it was only about 500 years ago that Hivewings could be defined as an entirely new tribe, and that Silkwings are our ancestors. But we all share a common ancestor, Clearsight!”

Fred turns and tilts his head. “ _ All _ Hivewings have Clearsight as an ancestor?”

“Yeah! It’s how we got our black spots! Or in Bumblebee’s case, why she’s nearly  _ all _ black. Clearsight was a Nightwing! Oh, I can’t wait to meet all the other tribes!  _ Especially _ the Nightwings, can they all predict the future like her?”

Fred gets a terrible idea and slows his wingbeats to try and match Cricket’s weird bug wing pattern.

“I should probably explain how it’s possible for a whole tribe to share  _ one _ dragon as an ancestor. See, there’s this  _ horrid _ thing called i-”

“ **ATTENTION ALL PANTALAN DRAGONS!** ” Tsunami interrupts. “ **WE HAVE REACHED THE EDGE OF THE PYRRHIA, THE ICE KINGDOM! FLO, I’M GOING TO NEED YOU TO KEEP THEM WARM, WHILE TURTLE AND I FLY AHEAD TO FIND AN ICEWING TO TAKE THE QUEEN TO US AND INTRODUCE OURSELVES PROPERLY!** ”

Fred is pushed along with the flock, landing on cold snow. It’s wet and squishes under his paw pads and sends shivers up his talons. How has he been neighbors with the Ice kingdom his whole life, yet spared of the horror that is snow?

Flo warns everyone about his firescales, then flings his glasses to Fred. The hybrid barely manages to catch them. What’s he supposed to do with these? Fred didn’t bring a bag.

He should have! He could have packed some rabbit corpses! Although, if the Leafwings caught him eating, they might get jealous, and there’s no way he's going to fight off a bunch of angry, starving dragons.

Flo grabs a few small trees to make a proper fireplace, or multiple to help warm the  _ entire _ group. Some of the Sapwings put out the trunks on fire by snuffing it out with snow. Everyone seemed to be exploring the snow and ice as carefully as they can, with Poisonwings scowling every step they take, Sapwings studying it in awe, and Bumblebee leaping out of Sundew’s little front pouch to roll around in it.

Tsunami asks Turtle if he can “Do something with anything lying around here.” To her disappointment, nothing happens to the rock he picked up. Flo offers to go with them since the cold might kill the dragons before the Icewings do, but Tsunami refused, worried that he would scare them. Instead, she has him light a giant branch on fire, absolutely soaked in snow. It’ll take a while for that fire to burn the whole thing. Then again, it’s more likely that it’ll just go out entirely! They’ll still be able to make some progress before then.

Fred was told to stay behind with the Leafwings, to use his muscles to protect them from any dangers. The Poisonwings were about to argue, before Sundew hissed. Is  _ she  _ their leader instead of Hazel?

Once the Seawings were out of sight, Fred started conducting a plan to sneak away from the flock. He was clearly unwanted! Everyone seemed scared and worried around him, but he hasn’t even eaten any of them yet!

The hardest part would be getting Flo distracted long enough to fly off. On both his brothers’ and Huaso’s request, the Skywing was keeping a close eye on the hybrid, knocking him into line every second he could. He’s not nearly as scary as Eddie or Ted! While the firescales themselves are a bit terrifying, any contact would result in permanent scars or actual death. Fred’s pretty confident that Flo wouldn’t use those to “teach him a lesson.”

Fred wonders if he can bring out his “Eddie strength” if he tries hard enough.

He throws Flo’s glasses into the ocean.

“FRED WHAT THE FUCK?!” A fireball passes by the entire crowd with impossible speed, diving into the frozen waters and causing a cloud of steam to rise and blind the whole flock. Fred makes his escape as everyone else panics.

His wings are tired, maybe he’ll find a cave to rest them for a while. It’ll have to be hidden away from the Leafwings and someplace Flo can’t reach. There’s a forest up ahead! If Flo can’t actually  _ find _ his glasses, then there’s no way he’ll be able to find Fred here. The Leafwings won’t even know where to look!

Weaving through the trees, he finds an odd lump of snow. Curious… Fred paws at the snow until a small tunnel is revealed. More digging and it turns out he can fit right in! Looks like it’s going to snow soon judging by those stirring clouds, so he might as well get in and let a blizzard cover his tracks!

It’s pretty dark in here. There’s a few branches on the ground near the entrance, so Fred tests his genes by spitting a fire. More Sand than Mud when it comes to fire! Mudwings can’t breath it when they’re too cold. Using his new torch, he continues down the tunnel to sate his new curiosity.

It feels like he’s been walking for an hour. There’s no way it’s been that long, it’s probably the loneliness getting to him. The tunnel widens into a large cave, capable of fitting maybe five dragons standing as a tower. But there’s something else… The walls look unnatural, as if someone molded the inside of the cave like pottery. Someone who was fond of putting rims on their edges.

Then, in less of a blink, the entire cave is illuminated. The ledges are scavenger-made platforms, most of them holding a miniature torch of their own. There’s smaller caves in the walls holding homes, with windows covered in beady eyes pointed right at Fred.

He’s somehow uncovered an entire den of scavengers.

Welp! Time for lunch!

As Fred looks around for the easiest ones to scoop up, he spots more of the walls moving. A wall of wood unfolds to reveal some kind of tube with metal inside. Weird, what are they going to do with that?

The sound of a click tells Fred to duck.

A giant dragon-killing spear shoots out of the tube right at Fred, he narrowly dodges with just a bit of his frill getting split by the edge of it. His mistake, he shouldn’t have been standing around as long as he has! The scavengers seem surprised that he dodges as quickly as he did. Looking back, he notices a stain of blue on the spot where the spear struck. Some poor Icewing had a bad day, huh?

The scavengers that were watching went back inside and started closing curtains and banging on the inside of their doors, probably blocking them. That’s just unfair! Fred tries to grab whatever scavenger he could reach, but they’re all too quick and they know where secret getaways are. Oh! Here’s one he could pick up with ease!

However, she keeps trying to stab him with a  _ very _ tiny knife. It bounces off his scales. Something weird happens next, she tries to  _ bite _ him and uses a spare knife to  _ saw off a piece of him. _ She can just barely get between larger plated scales before getting her knife taken away. Fred holds her up to his face. He’s better at hearing than speaking the Scavenger language, but he could at least try.

“What you’re trying?”

Her eyes go wide with an odd glint. She grins and pries herself out of his paws to stand dangerously on a single talon. “Trying to eat you, of course! What, you think a dragon like you would leave unscathed? Hah!”

Fred laughs back and puts her on the ground, only for her to try attacking him again. “Too weak!  _ I _ eat  _ you! _ Not me!”

“Oh yeah? Looks like I found your weak spot!” She slashes  _ another knife _ into his stomach, but it just slides across harmlessly. “God damnit!”

“Ooh, new word!”

“Damnit?”

“No.”

She huffs and flops onto her ass dramatically, also crossing her arms. “This is unfair, I couldn’t even eat the ice dragon we killed! Is it just  _ so _ bad to have dragon meat? We’d be set for  _ months! _ Hey, wait, how can you speak Human?”

Fred shrugs. “Friend.”

“Well alright then.”

“... Name?”

“Spruce, like the spiky trees. Although, you’re not an ice dragon, how well does that translate?”

“Well. We know plants still!”

“Huh, alright, then what’s  _ your _ name?”

Fred ponders for a second. How will  _ his _ translate? It’s not a specific word like the rest of his… Like the rest of the dragons aside from his little brother. Although, maybe Sugar’s had all the fun in teaching a scavenger Dragon.

“Fred.” he says in Dragon. Spruce furrows her brows at him. “Translation?”

“No!”

“No? C’mon, I got to translate mine, how the hell am I even supposed to say that?”

“Why need? New word!”

Now that introductions are over according to Fred, he grabs Spruce again and starts heading down the tunnel where he came. A few other scavengers scream and yell out for her. She sticks her tongue at them and chortles. Not so fond of the cave life, huh? He somewhat wonders if she’ll die the second she hits the cold.

The blizzard already covered the tunnel completely, forcing Fred to breath fire in bursts just to see. Eventually, he and Spruce bump into the snow. Found it!

“Where are you taking me, anyway?”

“My place.”

She taps her fingers on his talons in boredom. “What, you gonna cook me? If you are, I won’t let you without a fight! I can basically make a knife out of  _ anything _ at this point. Hey, do dragons have knives?”

“Many weapons.”

“Great! Give me one of those!”

Fred starts digging at the snow before realizing that he needs both paws. He moves Spruce to his tail, curling around her so she won’t run back home and bring an army. After a simple “no touch” and a point at his scorpion barb, he digs. She doesn’t need to know that he’s not venomous. Actually, she’s probably never even  _ heard _ of Sandwings. She’s in for a surprise when she realizes hybrids are a thing!

The harsh winds of the blizzard hit them both. It takes a while to actually get  _ out _ of the tunnel, but once they’re free, Fred moves Spruce onto his shoulder and fles right into the storm. Fred’s never flown in a blizzard, and it’s only rained maybe 3 times his whole life, but surely it’s just some rough winds that he can ride out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a test chapter since Idk how to really write Fred, but he's one of the main PoVs. Also, surprise! Spruce is Ballgnome! (I should probably get some more information on her...)
> 
> Don't worry about the fact that Spruce is human and Fred's a dragon, I'm keeping it platonic here!


	2. Wof Au arc 2 (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flo's PoV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Dangerous Gift has finally come out and I was actually able to read it before posting this!
> 
> I was right about being wrong about many things, so anything that doesn't line up in arc 1 is "It's MY Au, I get to chose how things happen!" And anything that doesn't line up in arc 2 is "I don't know how to fix this to fit with canon."

That stupid  _ stupid STUPID DRAGON! _

How dare he throw Flo’s glasses into the fucking OCEAN?!  _ THE ONLY THING THAT PROTECTS OTHER DRAGONS FROM SOMETHING HE CAN’T CONTROL OTHERWISE?! _

Flo lands back on the snow, feeling colder than ever after the dive into ice water. His wings are soaked, not even dry yet because he decided to put his glasses on  _ now _ and not as soon as he got them _. _ What would have happened if he landed on the edge and someone bumped into him, not expecting he was there? A dead dragon! Although it’s pretty hard to see through his glasses with all the steam… Is this what Huaso feels like all the time?

The Leafwings nervously stare or glare at Flo. A couple of them mutter something about Fred leaving in the confusion and they don’t know where he went. Flo begins to panic. What would Huaso do if he knew he lost Fred? What would Eddie do if he knew he lost his innocent little brother? What would Ted do if he knew he lost the insane cannibal?

There’s no way he can go search for Fred while leading a whole flock. If a single Icewing spots them in their land without a formal introduction, he could risk getting both Icewings and Leafwings killed. First things first, getting Queen Hazel to meet with Queen Snowfall.

He starts walking towards the sharp mountains. If his maps were accurate, the Ice palace would be hidden there, he could find a couple of guards and tell them the situation. If they try to be hostile, he’ll just whip his glasses off and make the sharp point of their spears melt. The Leafwings only follow him when Hazel gestures for them to do so. Some  _ still _ aren’t listening to her, so Sundew hisses. What in the world is happening with this divide?

He’ll have to push his curiosity down, there’s actually a couple of Icewing scouts heading right for them. They gracefully land in front of Flo, Hazel, and Sundew. They give weird looks at the Pantalan dragons, one staring between Sundew and the tiny Hivewing clinging to her neck. Flo steps forward carefully and bows.

“Hello, Icewings. I’m a firescales keeping this tribe warm as they look for help. Earlier, two Seawings named Tsunami and Turtle should have met up with you to warn you about the oncoming tribes? These are the Leafwings, with two Hivewings and a Silkwing. The rest of the Silkwings should be following soon after as they escape from their continent.”

The Icewings share glances. One makes an odd gesture with his claws, and flies back. Another says “Follow” and takes off. The flock takes to the air as quickly as they can. The dark clouds overhead begin to worry Flo.

Winds were picking up, so Flo was ordered to stay with the younger dragonets to keep them safe and warm. It was a pretty awkward flight as Flo’s probably the last dragon he would think of next to children. Hatchlings kept trying to grab his tail, cling to his neck, or stay wrapped in his paws. It was  _ very _ hard to fly.

Finally, they were at the gates of the palace. Passing Icewings were confused, some were absolutely terrified. Most of them were muttering amongst themselves. Flo  _ knows _ they aren’t mostly talking about him, in fact, they probably can’t even see him in the crowd. Yet it still feels like when he first went to Possibility and set Huaso’s old shop on fire.

_ They aren’t talking about you, they aren’t going to remove you, they won’t burn up with your glasses anyway. So calm down. _

It wasn’t a very helpful line of thought.

The Icewings reluctantly let the Leafwings into the palace, where Tsunami and Turtle were waiting with a mountain of blankets over them. Hazels sighs of relief.

“You’re okay, thank Clearsight! What did the queen say?”

“Weeell…” Tsunami starts. “She didn’t  _ actually _ talk to us yet… Apparently she’s so paranoid about everything that she’s afraid I’m going to overthrow her and invade her kingdom with you guys! Her plan is to just watch us for a while and see if we do anything suspicious.”

“What? But… Why would we invade her kingdom specifically? We don’t know anything about it, we don’t even know how to survive in snow, our continent never had it!”

“Wish I knew! I feel like I’m being watched by my mother,  _ again. _ I guess just stay here and be nice?  _ Looking at you, Poisonwings.” _

Some of the Leafwings hiss and growl, grabbing the attention of the guards. Sundew swiftly turns her head to glare at them and they stop. A pale Leafwing comes up to her and calms her down while Bumblebee cheers.

Flo sneaks out from the middle of the flock. A few of the hatchlings try to follow him, but he manages to get their parents to stop them. He goes up to Tsunami and clears his throat.

“I don’t suppose I need to stay much longer? The Leafwings are protected from the elements here and I… May have lost someone before getting here, so I need to find him before that blizzard acts up.”

“You  _ what?!- _ ”

Many Icewings  _ and _ Flo shush her. Guards nervously look around. Is there some kind of rule about being quiet? Or are they afraid of something in the palace? Tsunami crawls out of her blankets, much to Turtle’s dismay.

“I don’t see a single hybrid in this crowd, I’m guessing Fred tricked you? If you’re going to look for him, you’re going to need help!”

“No offense, but I don’t need a 7 year old’s help finding a cannibal… Not to mention, you should probably stay and help Snowfall with her paranoia! You’re a Dragonet of Destiny, Queen Coral’s daughter, and the principal of Jade Mountain Academy! You’re probably the most trustworthy dragon available.”

“... Fine, but don’t like… Get anyone killed while you’re out there, including yourself!”

Flo rolls his wings and shoulders. “A blizzard never affected me, anyway.”

The guards let him back outside, seemingly relieved that the Firescales is leaving. He looked around for any tracks Fred could leave. Footprints, Icewing blood, his own blood,  _ anything. _ The blizzard already started, so it’s pretty likely that his tracks are completely covered by now. He’ll just have to look for a weird yellow through all the white.

Which was pretty easy to spot, actually.

Fred’s unconscious under a tree, there’s already a thin layer of snow covering his exposed limbs. He has a scavenger hiding under his wing for some reason. Flo immediately tucks the big guy under his own wings, hopefully warming him up. He can’t bring himself to feel bad for Fred. It’s his own fault that he ran off and flew in a blizzard!

The scavenger notices the other dragon and stops trying to cut the hybrid with a stick. She squeaks some nonsense, then stomps over to Flo’s tail to wrap herself in it. Apparently, she also noticed that he’s unnaturally warm. Fred should explain  _ multiple _ things when he’s awake.

The blizzard doesn’t let up, in fact it seems to get even harsher. If they stay here much longer, the elements will freeze Fred before Flo can thaw him. He dragd Fred away from the forest, looking for a cave. There doesn’t seem to be anything around. The scavenger isn’t helping much, either. She keeps poking both of them and huffing disappointedly.

Flo remembers a couple of caves along the shores, but that’s going to be an hour flight at  _ least _ in this weather. He’ll just have to risk it and see if there’s anything closer that’ll work. Fred’s very heavy, but Flo’s strong enough to carry him short distances.

Fly, stop, warm. Fly, stop, warm. Fly, stop, warm.

His ears keep flicking snowflakes away, landing annoyingly on them. His face actually  _ feels _ cold for once in his life and it’s unbearable. Each passing moment, Fred’s breathing gets slower and slower. The scavenger seems to be perfectly fine clinging to Flo, although it’s probably because she doesn’t need nearly as much heat and protection as dragons ten times her size.

As soon as his limbs start giving up, they reach the edge of the Ice kingdom once again. All of the tracks from a hundred Leafwings are gone, covered in unforgiving ice. Flo tightens his grip on Fred and flies down the cliff, tossing himself into one of the caves. It’s far enough from the ocean to be protected from any waves and it’s deep enough to keep Fred completely out of the blizzard.

The Skywing instantly falls to his stomach, wings tiredly sprawled out. The scavenger yawns then tucks herself under one. Flo can barely lift his head to look at her.

“You think  _ you’re _ tired?”

She squeaks back annoyingly, then notices that he isn’t responding to it with language. Was Fred talking with her? That might explain her confusion, the brothers mentioned something about being friends with scavengers.

Flo manages to look back at the hybrid to make sure he’s okay. His breathing is better, and he’s even shifting in his sleep to get more comfortable. Good.

It’s time to take a very well deserved nap.

  
  
  


Someone’s rudely poking his snout. Upon realizing that it’s a living being poking him, Flo wakes up and flings himself as far away as he can. Only after looking at Fred’s unburnt and confused face does he relax. Fred grabs the now uncovered scavenger.

“Wow, you almost crushed Spruce!”

“I… Did you name her?”

“No, that’s just her name. I know enough Scavenger to understand her! Just not enough to reply. Anyway, how the hell did we get here?”

“... How the  _ what? _ ”

“A new scavenger word! Dunno what it means, but I’ve heard Spruce use it like that. Now answer!”

Flo walks around Fred to peak outside, the blizzard’s gone now. “Well, I found you unconscious out in the snow, so I brought you back to the caves right below the cliff we were originally on.” That’s an odd looking cloud in the distance…

“Huh, cool.”

“Cool?”

“Yeah, that you managed to do that! You’re a stick! How’d you even carry me without dropping me in the ocean?”

The ‘Stick’ huffs out a whole fire from his nostrils. He growls then turns his attention back to the weird cloud. Are clouds supposed to be so multicolored?

“What? What did I say??”

Spruce is squeaking angrily at Flo, trying to match Fred’s glare. Flo swings his head back to them. “What are you doing with a scavenger anyway? As far as I know, they can’t survive in the cold  _ before _ reaching the actual Ice kingdom, why is one surviving  _ in _ it?”

“Oh! Funny story, there’s this huuuge cave with this whole colony-”

Flo regrets asking. He prattles on and on about how he likes that the scavenger tried to eat him, which is just… Weird. Flo’s weird, but that’s a step too far. The cloud now looks like a migrating flock of butterflies. Those are probably the Silkwings Io said would be following. They’re about a day late. Did a day really pass? The sun’s so low…

Fred finishes talking and nudges Flo away from the cave entrance to look at the flock. “Oooh, even more Pantalans! I wonder if they’ll be dumb enough to let me get a taste…”

Flo nudges him back. “You’re  _ not _ going to eat any of them! Actually, I think it’s about time you flew back home with your new  _ pet. _ ”

“Spruce isn’t a pet! Does a pet try to kill you?”

“I wouldn’t know, all of mine burned. Now  _ go. _ Before you do anything dumber than Eddie.”

That seems to have convinced him. After a reminder from the other, Fred goes to fly along the coast of Pyrrhia to avoid the Great Ice Wall killing him. All Flo can do is hope that he doesn’t encounter anyone alone on his way. Now it’s time to escort the Silks to their Leafwing friends.

  
  
  


There were  _ hundreds _ of Silkwings, way more than Leafwings. And there’s only a talonful of them that even know Leafwings were still alive! Io comments that it’s still not  _ every _ Silkwing, several hundred more were missing.

While the crowd tries to calm down, some confused, most of them upset about their homes burning, (Flo feels incredibly awkward here) Io tries looking for her brother and friend.

“Swordtail?! Blue?! Cinnabar?!” She clutches onto Flo’s wing as a way to anchor herself in the flock. Their fear of him lets her scan more easily as they spread out to avoid the Firescales. “Has anyone seen a blue and purple Silkwing with glowing orange wrists?! What about a blue and orange Silkwing that’s really dumb and only talks about Luna??”

A couple of Silkwings mention that Blue’s the one on the wanted posters, but only the “Jewel and Cicada Hive Chrysalis” have actually met him. Even then, they confirm that they haven’t seen them when passing through the Poison Jungle.

Which is currently on fire.

Flo really hopes they don’t notice that he’ll literally light the entire world on fire if his glasses fall off.

Out of frustration, she shouts;

“HAS  _ ANYONE _ EVEN  _ SEEN _ A FLAMESILK IN THIS FLOCK?!”

Several heads turn deeper into the crowd. Large sunset wings flap a few times before pointing upwards to be distinct from the crowd. They move towards Flo and Io.

“... I’m pretty sure Blue isn’t Orange.”

“Sundown, actually.”

The Silkwing seemed to be one of the largest Flo’s ever seen… So far. He feels warmer than the rest of them for some reason. The strange Silk also has this stern look unlike the rest of his tribe, as if he was pretending to be one of the Hivewings instead of a Hivewing’s toy.

“And I’d like to know what has been happening in Pantala for the past 30 years. Quick. I have someone waiting for me by the shores.”

Io finally lets go of Flo, curiously tugging on his front legs. “I don’t recognize you. Your wrists are glowing, you’re a Flamesilk?”

“Indeed I am.”

“Uh huh… What hive are you from,  _ Mystery Flamesilk? _ ”

“Bloodworm. At least, that’s what the priests told me.”

Several Silkwings and Leafwings gasp. The angry Leafwings are muttering amongst themselves. What’s so special about Bloodworm? A couple Silkwings step up to Sundown.

“Bloodworm was burned by the Leafwings using a Flamesilk’s fire… We tried to save as many Silkwings as we could, but most of them just… Disappeared, we couldn’t find the rest of the hive.”

Sundown seems somewhat miffed, but just huffs and waves a claw. “I’m surprised it didn’t happen when I was still there, horrid place.”

The Silkwings agree.

Io snaps her claws to get his attention again. “Hey, do you know who Blue is? Another Flamesilk like you?”

“I don’t, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, well, do you know any other Flamesilks who might have met him in Wasp hive?”

“I don’t believe I’ve met a single other Flamesilk in my entire life.”

“Right, okay, then-” She shakes her head and essentially yelps at Sundown. “WHAT?! HOW?! They’re all kept in the same place! And you’re  _ huge! _ You have to be… How old are you?”

“I’m 38.”

“ _ 38?! Then how, in the name of Clearsight, have you never- _ I need to cool off, where are those Sapwings?” She storms away towards the Leafwings, defeated. Cricket and Sundew seem upset that she didn’t return with her missing friends. Flo awkwardly stands in the same spot, as does Sundown. The flock averts their attention to something else, also feeling awkward.

Flo slowly turns back to the exit of the Ice palace, but gets stopped by the Flamesilk.

“You… Seem off. For one, you’re a hot-scaled dragon in a cold place, and second, you seem to emit warmth. Who are you?”

“Flo, sir.” Why did he feel the need to add sir at the end?

“What is your tribe, Flo?”

“Skywing, A-and I’m a Firescales, I was hatched with too much fire, b-but because of my glasses, I’m not setting anyone on fire right now, so… Yeah…”

“Ah.” Sundown simply hums. “So you’re like me?”

“I guess so…”

“I have a request of you, I trust you to understand more than anyone from my continent or the cold dragons pointing weapons at us. Do you know how to travel across Pyrrhia?”

“Yes I do, sir. I haven’t traveled much but I have many maps and a friend with experience.”

“I need you to take a friend of mine to the rainforest, do you know where that is?”

The rainforest? That’s all the way south, how would he know it even exists? Maybe it’s a Leafwing trying to find a new place to call home?

“Yes I do.”

“Great. Follow me, make sure no one else is with you.”

They head outside, Flo constantly looks around him to check for other dragons. No one can be seen. Sundown heads back to the coastline, Flo can’t help but look at his wings as they fly. They look strong for a butterfly-like shape. Each flap seems to take him a mile higher than before, although Flo knows that’s just his imagination going wild. Sometimes, he’ll catch an updraft and flap his wings even faster, but not as hard, almost like Cricket’s way of flying.

Suddenly, he dives into the cold water. Flo was hoping he could avoid doing that again, but he’s not going to disappoint Sundown after following him this far. His glasses manage to stay on this time. Sundown looks around for Flo and finds him pretty quickly. Now they’re just two orange dots in the sea, why was Flo brought here?

The Flamesilk begins to rapidly splash his wings against the currents, sometimes hitting Flo. What in the world was he doing?  _ WHAT JUST BRUSHED AGAINST HIS LEGS?! _

Flo freaks out and tries to fly out of the water, but Sundown holds one of his legs and calms him down. “Don’t worry, Shell’s not going to do anything, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Shell?

_ A Seawing. _

If Snowfall ever found out  _ another _ Seawing snuck into her kingdom, she might start a war!

… So Flo keeps quiet.

Sundown seems to find where Shell’s swimming, watching him carefully. His gaze moves to a couple of giant rocks sticking out of the water. A small splash is heard behind them, and a pink Rainwing suddenly leaps into the same waters as Flo and Sundown.

Alright, how many tribes are in one of the most protected places on Pyrrhia now? Wait, this Rainwing looks familiar, but Flo’s positive he’s never seen him before. Yet the colors and face are tugging at one of his memories.

“Flo, meet Strawberry. Apparently, he’s a descendent of the Beetlewing’s ancestors. Beetlewings, by the way, are the shared ancestor of Hive and Silkwings.”

_ That’s why! This is Huaso’s friend! The one he met before Flo! _

“Just so I don’t get you mixed up for another Strawberry… Do you know Huaso?”

Strawberry flaps his wings excitedly, getting Flo’s face wet again. “I do! I was going to warn him about Lenny! But I couldn’t make it to the island he was on! Sundown and Shell said that it was probably best that I just went home since I didn’t know where he was anyway. So I might as well warn my Queen before he does anything suspicious!”

“Wait wait wait, Lenny? But why would you need to-” Another brush against his legs freezes him. A Seawing’s sail and eyes poke out of the dark waters, nervous. Sundown starts heading for the beach to get his wings dry.

“We’ll discuss this on the flight there, for now, we need to stop wasting time.”

They all shake out the ice water, all except Shell, who’s still in the ocean.

“Sundown? Once we’re done talking about the urgent stuff, I have a few questions about you apparently…  _ Not _ being grouped with other Flamesilks? It sounds sort of like my history…”

Sundown takes to the air, but turns back to Flo and gives him a gentle smile.

“Of course, and I’d like to know more about you and your tribe, if you think that’s fair.”

Flo nods, leaping after Sundown.

There’s finally someone like him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flo: New older brother!
> 
> Sundown: *Oblivious*


End file.
